Perforate

//ˈpəːfəreɪt// adj, verb

Definitions

Adjective
  1. 1
    Perforated. not-comparable, obsolete

    "An Earthen Pot perforate at the Bottom to let in the Plant."

  2. 2
    Perforated, having a hole. not-comparable, obsolete

    "Suche abuses can not be longe hydde frome princis, that haue their eares perforate (as is the prouerbe)."

  3. 3
    Perforated. not-comparable

    "A species of remarkable appearance with mature leaf laminae often so profoundly perforate as to resemble a fragile net of tissue."

Adjective
  1. 1
    having a hole cut through wordnet
Verb
  1. 1
    To pierce; to penetrate. transitive
  2. 2
    pass into or through, often by overcoming resistance wordnet
  3. 3
    To make a line of holes in (a thin material) to allow separation at the line. transitive

    "to perforate a sheet of postage stamps"

  4. 4
    make a hole into or between, as for ease of separation wordnet

Etymology

Etymology 1

The adjective is first attested in 1425, in Middle English, the verb in 1538; from Middle English perforat(e) (“perforated, pierced”), borrowed from Latin perforātus, the perfect passive participle of perforō (“to bore or pierce through, to perforate”) (see -ate (verb-forming suffix) and -ate (adjective-forming suffix)), from per- (“through, thorough”) + forō (“to bore, pierce”). Participial usage of the adjective up until Early Modern English.

Etymology 2

The adjective is first attested in 1425, in Middle English, the verb in 1538; from Middle English perforat(e) (“perforated, pierced”), borrowed from Latin perforātus, the perfect passive participle of perforō (“to bore or pierce through, to perforate”) (see -ate (verb-forming suffix) and -ate (adjective-forming suffix)), from per- (“through, thorough”) + forō (“to bore, pierce”). Participial usage of the adjective up until Early Modern English.

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